--- title: "What do utilities cost in a Prince George winter? | PG Pulse" description: "Electricity is BC Hydro, natural gas is FortisBC, and the City bills water, sewer and garbage. Heating is the big winter cost." url: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/utility-costs/ markdown: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/utility-costs.md site: PG Pulse (https://princegeorgepulse.ca), The pulse of Prince George, British Columbia generated: 2026-10-16T16:07:33.846Z --- [Home, utilities and services](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/#home) # What do utilities cost in a Prince George winter? Electricity is BC Hydro (two-step residential rate), natural gas is FortisBC, and water, sewer and garbage are billed by the City. Heating is the big winter cost; our household cost calculator puts the current rates together. Checked October 1, 2026. Numbers update on their own. BC Hydro’s residential rate is 11.87¢ per kWh for the first block of use and 14.08¢ per kWh above it, plus a basic charge of 23.44¢ a day. Gas heat (FortisBC) is the most common; its rates change quarterly. City utilities (water, sewer, garbage and recycling) are flat-rate for most houses and billed twice a year. Your bill depends mostly on the size, age and insulation of the home and how you heat it. Ask a landlord or seller for the last 12 months of bills, and use the calculator for an estimate. ## By the numbers, live - BC Hydro step 1 energy rate 11.87¢ per kWh September 30, 2026. BC Hydro, Residential rates (tiered rate, flat rate and time-of-day pricing pages). [More on bc hydro step 1 energy rate](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/) - BC Hydro step 2 energy rate 14.08¢ per kWh September 30, 2026. BC Hydro, Residential rates (tiered rate, flat rate and time-of-day pricing pages). [More on bc hydro step 2 energy rate](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/) - BC Hydro basic charge 23.44¢ a day September 30, 2026. BC Hydro, Residential rates (tiered rate, flat rate and time-of-day pricing pages). [More on bc hydro basic charge](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/) Still have a question? The assistant answers from all of our live data. [Ask the assistant](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/ask/?q=What%20do%20utilities%20cost%20in%20a%20Prince%20George%20winter%3F) ## On PG Pulse - [Household cost calculator](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/tools/household-costs/) - [Power dashboard and rates](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/) - [Property taxes and utilities](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/city/property-taxes-and-utilities/) - [Taxes dashboard](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/taxes/) ## Official sources - [BC Hydro: residential rates](https://www.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/electricity-rates/residential-rates.html) Link checked October 14, 2026 - [FortisBC: natural gas rates](https://www.fortisbc.com/accounts/billing-rates/natural-gas-rates/residential-rates) Link checked October 14, 2026 - [City of Prince George: paying your bill](https://www.princegeorge.ca/city-services/utilities-taxes/paying-your-bill) Link checked October 14, 2026 ## Related questions - [Which internet providers are available, and which is best?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/internet-providers/) - [The power is out. When is it coming back?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/power-outages/) - [Why is my water brown or tasting odd? Is the water safe?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/water-quality/) - [When is my garbage day, and what can I recycle?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/garbage-recycling/) [All answers](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/) · [Report a problem](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/feedback/) ## More in Living here [See all in Living here](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/browse/#living) - [Moving here Costs, jobs, taxes, services](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/move/) - [Jobs Local openings, searchable](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/jobs/) - [Household costs Rent, power, gas, utilities, fuel](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/tools/household-costs/) - [Housing Rents, prices, new builds](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/housing/) - [Neighbourhoods 31 areas, mapped](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/neighbourhoods/) - [Schools Every K-12 school, college and university](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/schools/) ## Data Machine-readable data behind this page, from the free PG Pulse API (https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/). ### Answer Source: [Answers compiled from our own pages and the official sources linked in each answer; live values from our public API](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/). Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); each answer links its official sources. Updated 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z. JSON: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/answers/utility-costs - **id**: utility-costs - **theme**: 15 - **topic**: home - **topicLabel**: Home, utilities and services - **question**: What do utilities cost in a Prince George winter? - **also**: Hydro and Fortis bill per year, Realistic utility budget - **short**: Electricity is BC Hydro (two-step residential rate), natural gas is FortisBC, and water, sewer and garbage are billed by the City. Heating is the big winter cost; our household cost calculator puts the current rates together. - **answer**: BC Hydro’s residential rate is 11.87¢ per kWh for the first block of use and 14.08¢ per kWh above it, plus a basic charge of 23.44¢ a day. Gas heat (FortisBC) is the most common; its rates change quarterly. City utilities (water, sewer, garbage and recycling) are flat-rate for most houses and billed twice a year. Your bill depends mostly on the size, age and insulation of the home and how you heat it. Ask a landlord or seller for the last 12 months of bills, and use the calculator for an estimate. - **checked**: 2026-10-01 - **page**: #### facts | key | label | api | value | asOf | source | sourceUrl | href | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | hydroTier1 | BC Hydro step 1 energy rate | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/power/rates | 11.87¢ per kWh | September 30, 2026 | BC Hydro, Residential rates (tiered rate, flat rate and time-of-day pricing pages) | https://www.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/electricity-rates/residential-rates.html | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/ | | hydroTier2 | BC Hydro step 2 energy rate | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/power/rates | 14.08¢ per kWh | September 30, 2026 | BC Hydro, Residential rates (tiered rate, flat rate and time-of-day pricing pages) | https://www.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/electricity-rates/residential-rates.html | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/ | | hydroBasic | BC Hydro basic charge | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/power/rates | 23.44¢ a day | September 30, 2026 | BC Hydro, Residential rates (tiered rate, flat rate and time-of-day pricing pages) | https://www.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/electricity-rates/residential-rates.html | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/ | #### links | label | url | | --- | --- | | Household cost calculator | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/tools/household-costs/ | | Power dashboard and rates | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/power/ | | Property taxes and utilities | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/city/property-taxes-and-utilities/ | | Taxes dashboard | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/taxes/ | #### official | label | url | linkOk | linkCheckedAt | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | BC Hydro: residential rates | https://www.bchydro.com/accounts-billing/rates-energy-use/electricity-rates/residential-rates.html | true | 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z | | FortisBC: natural gas rates | https://www.fortisbc.com/accounts/billing-rates/natural-gas-rates/residential-rates | true | 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z | | City of Prince George: paying your bill | https://www.princegeorge.ca/city-services/utilities-taxes/paying-your-bill | true | 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z | --- Markdown version of https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/utility-costs/. 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